Rd 22 A-League Preview & Betting Tips

Finals eliminators highlight this week’s round.

Western Sydney Wanderers v Wellington Phoenix

The Wanderers are shaping as a good bet this weekend. Although they aren’t great value @ $1.75, Western Sydney have everything in their favour heading into their clash with the Wellington Phoenix.

Western Sydney haven’t lost to Wellington in their past eight clashes and dusted up the Phoenix a month ago at ANZ Stadium 4-nil. The Red and Blacks want to play finals and currently occupy sixth spot on the table – a win here will go a long way to sealing their spot.

Spanish hitman Oriol Riera had his five-game scoring streak interrupted last week against Perth. He has two goals in three matches against the Phoenix and is our value bet to open the scoring.

Best Bet: Western Sydney Wanderers Win @ $1.95

Value bet: Oriol Riera (First Goal Scorer) @ $4.25

Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners

Saturday 10pm

nib Stadium

Home teams have dominated this fixture in recent history, which should be no surprise considering both have been poor on the road against all comers. While Central Coast has won three of its last four matches against Perth, each of those wins came in Gosford. Across the other side of the country, however, the Glory is undefeated in six matches against the Mariners stretching back to 2013. In those six games the Glory won five times and scored a staggering 18 goals to seven. In total, Central Coast hasn’t won an away game in Australia in more than a year, last tasting success on the road against Western Sydney in Round 19 last year. With that in mind, and considering what is on the line for the eighth-placed home team, we’re tipping a Perth win here.

But Perth does boast the worst defensive record in the competition - conceding 43 goals in 22 games - and had kept only two clean sheets this season. So you can bet that the Mariners will at least score, even if they don’t win.